Why brands should approach smartphone, tablet ads differently

"The important thing is to understand that smartphones and tablets are not used the same, deliver distinctive experiences and should not be lumped into the same bucket because they are both wireless (most laptops are as well.) True mobile devices are those used by people "on the go". They consume content differently, try to different types of tasks and generally behave differently," said John Kottcamp, Chief Strategy & Marketing Officer, Tahzoo.

The Tahzoo platform is set up to help determine what brands are doing now, how they are connecting and from that information creating a better way for the brand to engage with the right customer base.

Kottcamp believes there is room for growth from both smartphones and tablet devices, but believes brands need to approach both differently. He notes that the bulk of mobile consumers are still on feature phones, as backed up by data from comScore. While some of those feature phone users have gone into the tablet realm, tablets offer a different experience for those users.

"The tablet experience is really a "regular" web experience that has been modified by screen size and more importantly by the introduction of a touch interface. In the case of media, Tablets and e-readers are mimicking traditional magazine experiences. You tend to flip page to page, left to right, single page by single page," said Kottcamp. "Whereas for smart phones, you see a world of Apps, that deliver a different, and generally scaled down and simplified experience. For example, almost every major airline has a smart phone app. Most allow you to check your flights, book seats, even check in. However almost none of them let you search for and book new flights. So the future is bright for both categories of mobile devices, but they will grow for different reasons and at different rates in different markets."

More from Kottcamp and Tahzoo tomorrow, including some best practices for advertising in the smartphone and tablet spaces.

Tags: advertising, branded content, mobile content, tablet consumption, tablet trends, Tahzoo